TNT’s new genre shows

CB Droege, 19th May 2012

The network that claims to know drama has announced two new genre serials.

Though the announcement of these shows arrived during ‘upfront week’ when most networks are confirming their fall line-up, these serials are not yet on the docket, as they’re still being developed over at TNT. Nevertheless, the network seems pretty intent on fielding both, though perhaps not for this fall.

First, a detective show tentatively titled Legends follows an undercover CIA operative as he goes through an identity crisis. The series is based on the novel by Robert Littell. The original story depicts agent Odum as he begins to wonder if he really is who he thinks he is.

The official synopsis for the show seems like it may be introducing a fantasy element to the plot, but perhaps it’s only strangely worded::

"The story follows a deep-cover operative named Martin Odum, who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job... But his own identity comes into question when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t who he thinks he is."

For the series, I would guess that Odum will have a different CIA case to ‘solve’ each week, while simultaneously dealing with an over-arching mystery centered on himself. Sounds a bit like Total Recall: The Series, but I suppose a lot will depend on the tone.

The other new show is The Last Ship, a dystopian action adventure, which seems to be a popular genre right now, also based on a novel, this time by William Brinkley. A global pandemic decimated the population of the planet in a particularly sudden event - for a disease. The group of survivors the show will follow are the crew of a naval destroyer who happened to be out of port at the time of the outbreak. I would expect lots of melodrama, and at least one crewmate who knows something about the outbreak, and looks like he really works for the enemy, or somehting like that.

This one is notable because Michael Bay will be exec producing the show, and even plans to direct some of the episodes, including the pilot. It’ll be interesting to see how the film veteran does on a television budget.

Both Legends and The Last Ship are in development, and neither have yet been approved for production yet.